Dragon Heartstrings
by sincerelysophie
Summary: Sequel to Devil's Backbone. Eleven years after the Second War, Lucy Potter-Black returns to England after spending eight years studying under Newt Scamander. Lucy quickly learns that the ache of loss still haunts those surrounding her, and that life, love and family are not as black and white as her name would suggest. Concurrent with second generation.
1. Prologue

Eight years. Three weddings. Twelve children. An Order of Merlin, Second Class. Seven tattoos and dragons. There had been so many dragons.

Lucy watched as the trains came in and out of King's Cross station. Her rucksack felt lighter this time. Her skin was the colour of toasted honey and was a contrast to the pale blue in her dress - or rather, what was left of the pale blue after it had been exposed to dragon's blood. Her bare arms were scarred and tattooed. Her curls were a disheveled mess that, had she kept it short, would have stuck up, obnoxiously, in the back like her late uncle and cousin.

"_You should go_."

Lucy had come back for the same words that had pushed her to go. She'd spent years in Romania understanding why Charlie came back so rarely. Lucy had relished in every moment of uncomplicated silence that wasn't plagued by the loss of her mother, or Remus, or Nymphadora. Things were so wonderfully simple in Romania. The complexities of London and familial life made her head spin. She was not the green 18 year old who had left. She had years of experience under her belt, and yet staring at the brick barrier between platforms 9 and 10, she felt no older than eleven.

It had been eight years since she had left Harry and Ginny from this very platform. _'I don't like the floo network, apparition is monitored by the ministry and you get portkey-sick, so muggle transportation it is.' _So train it had been. Almost 36 hours on a train from London to Paris to Prague to Bucharest.

"_You'd be daft to turn down the opportunity_."

So she hadn't. She'd accepted and abandoned ship. Or at least her father. She'd abandoned him. She'd given up on him after he fell off the wagon for the second time. Death wasn't Sirius Black's colour. Harry and Ginny had taken Cas and Leo. They were as old as Lucy was when her parents had gotten married now. That was a thought that stung somewhere deep in her bones.

It had been eight years since she had left Harry and Ginny on this platform, smiling, crying and trembling as she stepped onto the train to Paris. They'd forfeited their honeymoon for her, so she could go as soon as Newt had wanted. Rolf had been there to keep her company on the journey. He was a virtual stranger who became a quick friend.

"_Stay_."

Four letters had flipped her world upside down at Rolf and Luna's wedding. She hadn't expected for life to demand her presence, but it had. Lucy was finally ready to stop running. It had only taken eight years, three weddings, twelve children, an Order of Merlin, Second Class, and seven tattoos. Oh, and dragons. There weren't any dragons at King's Cross.

* * *

**A/N: So there's the start of it! This story will include flashbacks to the war, flashbacks to the missing years, and of course, new details about life after the war Potter-Black style. :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy this! More to come!**

**Please feel free to leave a review about what you think of this brief teaser, and if you haven't read Devil's Backbone... Go do that. I mean, if the spirit so moves you. ;)**

**Lots of love,**

**Sophie**


	2. Default

**A/N: Ah! Thanks for the reviews, you guys! Funny story: someone left a negative anon review on the last chapter of Devil's Backbone... Like they read all 41 chapters just to let me know "your story is bad." My roommate and I have been laughing all day! **

**Anyway, I hope that this chapter lives up to expectations. My roommate is sort of acting as an almost-beta... So we'll see how this goes. **

**Lots of love!**

* * *

_**July 2nd, 2000**_

"_He's drunk," Lucy said as she leaned against the door she'd slammed shut moments before and stared at her older cousin in his dress shirt with his bowtie undone. Harry ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He looked handsome, cleaned up, and more nervous than he'd been on his walk to death two years previous. _

"_Started early, then?" Harry replied as he struggled to tie it up. _

"_Let me," Lucy pushed herself off the door and glided over to him in her bridesmaid dress. Her deep maroon, floor length skirt swished around her feet like moving water and her bare shoulders looked startlingly pale against the dark straps. Her fingers deftly moved to do up Harry's bowtie as she had done for his ringbearers, Castor and Leo. "He's always drunk. You know that." _

"_I was just hoping he might make an effort for today," Harry sighed as Lucy straightened out his lapels and pat his shoulders. "How many times does your godson get married?"_

"_Depends on how well he treats my sister," Ron poked his head in the door with a wide grin across his face. "'Mione's looking for you, Luce. Said she wanted to talk to you about something important... Something dragon related."_

"_I already told her I'm not going," Lucy grumbled. _

"_And we've all already told you you were daft, but I think you're going to want to hear whatever it is she has to say," Ron replied. He winked at Harry and Lucy let out an over dramatic sigh as she pushed past him. Jules wouldn't have made her go. Jules would have wanted her to stay home with the twins. After all, what kind of big sister would she be if she abandoned two four year old boys with their drunk father?_

_The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. By the time she made her way into the kitchen, Lucy was fuming with rage. How dare anyone suggest she leave Cas and Leo? _

"_Hermione, I already told you, I'm not bloody well going to Bosnia to work with Sca-" Lucy froze in her place as she stood in the doorway. Standing next to a rather excited Hermione was a young man with shaggy blonde hair and tanned skin with deep blue eyes. He had an eyebrow piercing and several tattoos that peaked out of his sleeves and collar. _

"_You must be Lucy," The young man said as he held out his hand to her. "I'm Rolf. Rolf Scamander. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." _

"_Bloody hell," Lucy breathed as she shook his hand. "Scamander? As in... Newt Scamander is-"_

"_My grandfather," Rolf said. "In fact, he sent me here... He's busy with a colony of Welsh Greens right now, so he couldn't make the time to see you, but Charlie told us that it might be beneficial to meet you in person..."_

"_This is a private family event," Lucy squeaked. _

"_And I was invited," Rolf grinned at her. Throughout his entire speech about how much Lucy was wanted on their study, his smile only faltered when she stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her. _

_Tears stung her eyes, she struggled to catch her breath, and she locked herself into a room where George was still struggling to do up his bowtie without a mirror. He hadn't looked in one for two years. _

"_What's up, Lucy?" George turned to face her as she convulsed._

"_Th-they... Th-they want me to g-go," She hyperventilated. "H-how do I... How do I leave?" _

"_Goose," George softened, his bowtie dropping to the floor. "Shh... Shh... It's alright." It wasn't, he knew that. _

_He wandered over and put his arms around her, pulling the young girl - woman - into his arms. Fred had always been better at comforting her, but George had tried his best to step up to the plate. After all, she had lost every stable figure in her life during the war, and George had lost Fred._

* * *

_**June 30th, 2009**_

Lucy almost ran right back out of Ginny and Harry's house as she saw forty faces grinning and cheering at her. Across the top of them was a hand-painted banner that the twins had made that read _Welcome home, loser! _What startled Lucy the most was how pregnant Ginny looked, how fresh Hermione's baby girl looked, the toddlers running around their parents, and the married couples. So many married couples.

"Surprise!"

"Don't be cross," Harry whispered in Lucy's ear as his grip on her shoulder became firmer. "We felt bad for not being there with bubbly when you won your Order of Merlin, so-"

"Bloody _hell_," Lucy breathed deeply. "You couldn't have saved this for like... I dunno, a time where I have properly reintegrated into society?!"

"Smile," Ginny grinned at her. "C'mon... They're all your favourite people..."

"Lucy!" Castor and Leo leapt onto her first. Their arms squeezed around her like cobras and she felt her lips curl into a smile for the first time as she took a step back to look at the twelve year olds.

"Bloody hell, you two," She grinned. "You're as tall as I am! How is that fair?"

"Dunno," Cas shrugged with a mirrored crooked grin on his face.

"Guess we just take after dad more than you," Leo finished. Lucy forced herself to laugh heartily at them as she ruffled their hair and planted sloppy kisses on each of their cheeks. They knew as well as she how little she wanted to be surrounded by them.

"_Tante _Lucy!" Victoire, at age nine, came running over to throw her arms around Lucy's waist. Her blonde hair was tied back in a high ponytail. She was every inch her mother's daughter, except for the distinct Weasley freckles. "What does the moon tattoo look like now?"

Lucy pushed up the sleeve on her worn cardigan to reveal a perfect waned crescent moon.

"TEDDY! Teddy, _look_, see. I _told_ you... I told you,_ le tattouage - er_, the tattoo. It changes _sa forme_..." Victoire grinned at the eleven year old who had taken to sporting disheveled black curls so he fit in with Cas and Leo. He frowned. In a moment his arm was sporting a matching tattoo. Lucy laughed and hugged the biological son of the man she'd considered to be her father for a solid portion of her life.

In fact, as the party continued, the children seemed more interested in her than many of the adults. An hour had passed and she was still surrounded by four year old James and Hugo looking up at her from the floor where they had stopped fidgeting just long enough to demand more stories with Louis and Dominique sitting in between them. Lucy had been so caught up in telling stories that she hadn't noticed the sets of eyes that drifted over to her as her hands and scars told animated stories they could only dream of.

"And then the biggest dragon realized that she had an advantage," Lucy said. She slowly lifted her feet off the floor, until she was crouching on Ginny's sofa, worn leather boots and all. "She turned her head," Lucy mimed the action, "And breathed the hottest fire I've ever felt... If it hadn't been for your uncle Charlie, I wouldn't have made it out alive!"

"What did you do then, Uncle Lucy?" James asked. His soft brown eyes were wide and his jaw hung slack in awe.

"It's _Aunt_ Lucy, doofus," Hugo frowned and shoved James hard.

"No, she's not my dad's sister, so she's got to be an _uncle_," James shoved Hugo back. At four, their shoves didn't do much damage. If anything

"Oi, you two," Lucy folded her arms across her chest and stood up on the sofa, frowning down at them. "D'you want to hear what happened when _I _faced a Hungarian Horntail, or would you rather I get James's dad to tell _his_ boring story?"

"It's not_ boring_!" Harry protested from across the room. "I was in the Triwizard Tournament!"

Lucy tossed a look over her shoulder and grinned at her elder cousin wickedly.

"It's a _little_ boring when you've heard it a _million _times," she teased. "And when you were there to see it-"

"You were _there_ to see it?!" The children in front of her gasped. "See, I _told_ you Uncle Lucy was my coolest Uncle," James said proudly.

"Oi!" Ron folded his arms. "I work at your favourite shop."

"I _created_ your favourite shop," a new voice said from the front door. Lucy's head flipped from one side of the room to the other so quickly that she nearly lost her balance on the soft sofa. Clambering over children, sofas and people, Lucy threw her arms around George Weasley, who was smiling, genuinely.

"Welcome home," He whispered into her ear. "You bloody fool."

"You're the one grinning like an idiot," Lucy laughed. "Oh, bloody hell, it's good to see you! What's this I hear about a runaway marriage?"

"Didn't feel like the pomp and circumstance of a proper Weasley wedding," George smiled at her as she pulled away and smacked his shoulder playfully. Every inch of her was older, harder, more sinewy than he'd ever seen her.

"So where's the wife?" Lucy asked giddly. "And the kidlets? C'mon, I want at least eighteen infants calling me Uncle before the day is through."

* * *

_**July 2nd, 2000**_

"_You may kiss the bride."_

_Only Harry Potter's wedding could gather this much attention, Lucy thought as she stood next to Ginny at the altar as camera flashes temporarily illuminating the backs of the audience. Rita Skeeter was here. Half of Europe's wizarding gossip columns had sent correspondents to write articles about Ginny's dress, but they'd all been kept at bay by an enchanted red rope. The last wedding she went to was nothing like this. It was not glamorous, but instead just a tight knit family group. Lucy's eyes searched the crowd for familiar faces. She found Neville, beside his nan, smiling at her encouragingly. Lucy smiled back, but it faltered as his eyes drifted to her drunk father. Drunk. Again._

_Her mind drifted from the people trying to catch glimpses of her family to the folded up piece of parchment on her dressing table. Her passion and intelligence had intrigued Newt Scamander so much that Rolf Scamander was watching her anxiously from the chairs in front of the altar. _

_Ginny and Harry were kissing. Molly was weeping. Hermione was cheering beside her, but Castor and Leo, who had been ring bearers, looked like they might cry from the noise as they hid behind Lucy's skirt. She understood. She didn't like this wedding as much as she thought she would. There was an empty seat beside her father that made the emptiness of the flask in his hand sting her eyes and her heart._

* * *

_**June 30th, 2009**_

Albus Severus Potter had decided he liked Uncle, _Tante_, Auntie, or just plain Lucy better than he liked his other grown up relatives. As he leaned his chubby cheek on her shoulder, he felt completely contented to listen to her gravelly voice speak in soft tones to other people congratulating her on something she'd won. Albus had won a gobstone from James once, until he stuck it up his nose and Mummy had gotten cross.

"You still awake, Al?" Lucy said, her weight still swaying from side to side in a motion that calmed the toddler just like it had calmed fresh dragon hatchlings. Rolf and Luna beamed at her from their spot in front of her as the miniature-Harry nodded.

"Rule one," Rolf said softly to Luna as she smiled with her ever-wondering face. "All infants are the same. Lucy used to rock back and forth with Romanian Longhorns fresh from eggs."

"That explains why her shoulders are so burned... Here I was blaming snorkacks..." Luna turned to look at her husband with a wry smile. "It's no wonder you two have so many tattoos..." Her finger grazed over the radish he'd gotten on his wrist.

"I thought snorkacks were native to Sweden," Rolf said gently as he leaned in to kiss her lightly on the lips.

Lucy smiled. They were still _so_ in love, even after they had honeymooned around Scandinavia searching for objects and creatures together. Luna's naturalist career path was everything Rolf had dreamed of doing with a wife. It was almost sickly sweet. The doorbell rung once more, but she was too busy admiring the love that Rolf and Luna had for one another to notice, or mind.

"Sorry we're so late," a musical, clear voice said to whomever had answered the door behind her. "We got stuck in Floo traffic again. I mean, _honestly_, Percy, is there nothing you can do about it? We ended up next _door!_"

"Sorry, Hannah," Percy said diplomatically. "We try our best, you know..."

"Oh, I know, love! Only joking..."

Lucy turned to see the blonde in the doorway with a bright smile on her face as she embraced Ginny, Percy and Harry in turn before doing the rounds to Hermione and Ron. Behind her, Neville Longbottom stepped in the door. His dark brown hair was shorter than it had been the last time she'd seen him. His face had a few lines around the eyes, and his smile lines were deeper, but he was still Neville, with his soft green-gold eyes and boyish smile.

"Hi Gin, Harry..." Neville embraced Lucy's cousin and kissed Ginny on the cheek. He looked around the room before his eyes met with Lucy's briefly. Her breath caught in her throat. _Shit._ The letters between them, and the friendship, had stopped abruptly three years ago. She knew why. Of course, she knew why. It had been her fault. It was always her fault.

"_It should have been you!_"

For the first time in her life, staring at Neville as he greeted her family, her friends, and even her brothers - he taught them at Hogwarts! Naturally, he had a better relationship with them than she did; he was the better person - Lucy agreed with her father's angry, drunken slurs all those years ago.

"Where is she?" Hannah Abbott's voice brought her back from the brink. "Where's the queen of the hour?"

"Oh, she's with Albus," Ginny smiled warmly as she looked over at Lucy. Her jaw still hung open.

Had she been a properly socialized human, Lucy would have forced herself to smile. Instead, her mouth stayed slightly agape until Castor waved his hands from behind Hannah and Neville and Leo mimed picking her jaw up off the floor. Noticing her thirteen year old brothers' social cues, she snapped her mouth shut. That warranted a thumbs up from Cas, but Leo stretched his lips into a wide smile and waved his hands at her. She couldn't manage that. It was asking simply too much.

* * *

_**July 2nd, 2000**_

_Lucy stood just behind an ice sculpture, avoiding Rita Skeeter, as she tried to enchant her father's champagne flute from alcohol to water. She'd accidentally missed and hit Teddy's sippy goblet instead. She was so enthralled in what she was doing, she hadn't noticed the acid green quill float up behind her until she heard the scraping of ink against parchment. She turned around, wand out, and stared at the terrible blonde woman. _

"_Lucy Potter-Black, age fifteen, looks just as grief-stricken as she did at the Second Wizarding War Memorial service while she tries to enchant goblets of water into wine to appease her drunk felon father... Ginny Weasley has chosen a gown in an obscene colour of-"_

"_I'm 18!" Lucy snapped. "It's not an obscene colour! It's maroon, and I look bloody delightful, not melancholy!" _

"_Lucy Potter-Black, age 18, is snappy with jealousy as she eyes the ice sculpture, wand in hand- is it grief, or insanity that has driven her to this point of envy? Does she fear ending up alone while her famous cousin gets the glory and the girl? Is it genetic? Does she take after her late, but undeniably mad, mother, or the werewolf she lived with? Or perhaps her alcoholic fath-"_

_Lucy lunged forward, dropping her wand out of rage before she could think as her nails reached desperately for Rita Skeeter's smug face. Rita stepped back, startled at the anger that coursed through the young woman in front of her. _

"_DON'T. TALK. ABOUT. MY MOTHER!" _

_Lucy was restrained by two pairs of arms that struggled to keep her at bay. The music reached its crescendo in the reception and people had started to stare as Harry and Neville fought against her. _

"_Luce, c'mon," Neville said carefully. "Don't let her get to you-"_

"_GET OFF ME! GET OFF! I'll kill her! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU WRETCHED COW!" _

"_I think it's best if you leave," Harry said sharply. She stared at the two young men with a sickening smile that showed exactly how much of a cougar she truly was under her beetle-animagus form. _

"_If you insist," Rita crooned. "It's a shame about her..." _

"_Perhaps you didn't quite hear him," Rolf Scamander had stood up and was towering over Rita from behind. His voice was as calm as the sea before a storm. "The groom asked you to leave."_

_Neville had wrapped his arms tightly around Lucy's waist and arms. Harry's hand was on his wand, just tucked under the belt of his dress robes. The music had halted. All eyes were on them as Lucy slowly lowered her feet back to the floor. Neville's grip slackened and she straightened out her dress. The quill hovered in the air for a moment before feverishly daring to dart back to the paper. It scribbled for a moment before a flash of light hit it and it exploded along with the pad._

"_Out! Get out." _

_All eyes turned to Ginny. In her white gown, she looked like an archangel, but they all knew exactly how much more dangerous she was. _

"_Now. Get out. Now. I'll buy you a new bloody quicknote quill, you bitch. Now get _out_ of my wedding!"_

_Rita stared around for a moment and then turned on her heel to leave. _

_Ginny looked around at the guests, smiled, and then waved her hand to summon the music once more. As soon as she had, Harry kissed Lucy on the temple, shook Rolf's hand and clapped Neville on the shoulder before going to snog his wife senseless. He loved it when she was fearless._

_Lucy stood trembling a little still. She wiped at her eyes absentmindedly and swallowed the lump in her throat. She nodded at Rolf, who gave a little bow before turning back to the conversation he'd been having with a radish earring wearing Luna Lovegood. Neville hovered for a moment more._

"_You alright?" He asked as Lucy straightened out her maroon dress. She glanced up at him, and didn't say anything. She didn't have to. "Stupid question... Er, let's try that again, shall we?" He offered a hand out to her. "My nan has some pretty strong opinions on dancing... One of which includes the fact that she hasn't seen you genuinely smile since we danced at your parents' wedding..." _

_Lucy's lips tugged at the corners and she gratefully took his hand. _

"_One might argue that I haven't had reason to smile since then," Lucy replied as they fell instep to the music that had once again distracted all wedding guests from anyone who might be threatening to murder a Daily Prophet journalist at a wedding. _

"_One might say that's a bleeding shame," Neville smiled. _

_They fell into step together, like old friends often do, and with every turn and twist, Lucy was reminded of the awkward boy who had smiled at her boyishly. That awkward, bumbling boy had told her she was every bit as important as the chosen one when it seemed no one else in the world thought so. She'd seen him grow from that boy to the young man who had run Dumbledore's Army while Harry searched for Horcruxes. He'd helped her fix her stolen motorcycle so she could go into hiding properly. He'd been the bravest, in her eyes, and the kindest. Neville, Lucy realized as they danced and laughed together at the fact she'd just threatened to murder Rita Skeeter at a wedding, was the most decent young man she knew. _

"_So I hear you're going to Romania," Neville finally said as the music slowed and they swapped spinning for swaying. _

"_Is _that_ what they're telling people?" Lucy rolled her eyes. "No, I mean... I've been offered this opportunity," Her eyes drifted to where Luna and Rolf were practically shouting at each other over Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. "But... I..." _

"_Lucy," Neville made her look him in the eye. "I know Scamander's offered you a job... Or at least a position on his latest study. You realize you're absolutely, bloody bonkers if you say no..."_

"_So I've been told..."_

* * *

_**June 30th, 2009**_

Lucy just wanted to hang out with Rolf and Luna and not be forced to greet anyone else for a very long time. Nor did she want to hear the words, "_Only a second class Order of Merlin? Doesn't Harry have a First Class?"_

"I just don't understand why half of these people are here," Lucy said to Rolf as she stole Harry's glass of firewhiskey out of his hand as he passed. She downed it in one gulp and then charmed the glass back towards the kitchen. "Almost all of them referred to me as Baby Potter or ignored me during Hogwarts..."

"Ignore you?" Rolf laughed. "That can't be right..."

"It was," Luna said. "But I think it was mostly because you were younger than all of us, Luce... And now... You're sort of feral."

"Yeah yeah," Lucy laughed. "At least I'm not bloody well wearing pastel yellow and a string of pearls while toting around some respectable... I dunno... _professor_ on my arm, you know? I mean, bloody hell, how boring would that be?"

Neither Rolf nor Luna spoke, instead they stared, alarmed, just over Lucy's shoulder where Hannah Abbott, with her perfectly done blonde hair pulled back with a headband, and a pastel yellow cardigan with perfectly shaped denim jeans and a string of pearls smiled politely at the vagabond woman.

"Hi Lucy!" Hannah said with her chipper voice still sounding light despite the slight edge with which she said the words. Lucy's face fell as she turned and caught sight of Hannah.

"Hannah!" Lucy said. She hugged her warmly, just the same, and dealt with the questions, the comments, and, of course, the unbearable giggling.

"I mean, when Nev told me that you were working with _Newt_ Scamander, I couldn't be_lieve_ it," Hannah was saying as Lucy tried not to grind her teeth down to a powder. "Baby Lucy? Working with dragons? I didn't think it was possible.. But you always were a little _eccentric_, weren't you? Especially towards the end."

"You mean when my mother died? And my father became an alcoholic? And then the Battle of Hogwarts took almost everything else I loved?" Lucy said. The sharp tone in her voice could have cut a diamond in two. Hannah's smile faltered. "Sorry, it was lovely to see you. Thank you for coming. I... I'll er-... Be in the..."

"Kitchen," Rolf said to Hannah. "She'll be in the kitchen."

With that, Lucy stalked into the kitchen and ran directly into a conversation that Harry and Neville had been having.

"Yeah, you know, it's hard... Ginny's only got another three months of mat leave before the Prophet expects her to get back to her quidditch column," Harry said as his green eyes followed Lucy to the liquor cabinet only for her to pour out the entire contents of a bottle of rather expensive scotch into the sink. It was a habit she'd picked up along the way. It helped calm her down, most of the time.

Neville turned to see who Harry was staring at and he stiffened.

"I understand what it's like being away from..." Neville tapered off; clearly distracted. He'd never seen Lucy in anything but wedding outfits for eight years. He liked her better in the worn boots and stained blue dress. Her hair swung from side to side and on the back of her neck the tip of a budding tree peaked out from her collar. He'd forgotten how many tattoos she'd gotten since moving away.

"Harry, where's the gin?"

The glint of light in her grey eyes and the firm determination in her brow took Neville back to the way she'd looked in the Department of Mysteries as everyone's hearts leapt to their throats watching her run towards her father. She was the same girl, just a bit older.

"You're not pouring out the gin," Harry told her.

* * *

_**July 2nd, 2000**_

_Lucy had spent the rest of the reception trying to get the servers to stop giving Sirius champagne flutes as he was spiking them with something stronger and downing them like shots. He kept calling her Julie, but that wasn't the strange part. She'd gotten used to that by now. _

"_These pricks won't give me anymore champagne," He grumbled as he swayed before finding his seat. "It's my godson's damn wedding, I should have as much as I like." _

_Castor's chubby hands found Lucy's skirt and Leo leaned himself across her legs. Sirius didn't pay them much attention. That had always been what Tonks and Remus had been good for. She fiddled with her wand under the table just in case she needed to stun her father. His drinking had always ebbed and flowed since Julianne had died, but after the war, it had reached its peak. He wasn't just a drunk anymore. He was an angry drunk. _

"_I think you'll be fine without it, dad," Lucy said carefully. "Maybe a glass of water?"_

"_You don't drink water at a bloody wedding," Sirius growled. "You drink wine. Fine wine. And you toast your love..." _

_He tapered off and stared blankly into the distance as if some memory had washed over him. Lucy envied him in moments like these. What must it be like to have the liberty to disappear into the emptiness of a bottle? If only her memories weren't plagued with the cold reality of death, maybe Lucy would find her solace there as well. Her hand absentmindedly went to stroke the soft heads of Castor and Leo. The four year olds were tired. _

"_To James and Lily," Sirius suddenly shouted as he thrust up his empty champagne glass. Everyone froze. "May they have many children and lead long happy lives together." _

"_Dad..." Lucy leapt to her feet. _

"_Shh, Julie, I'm giving a toast," Sirius waved his hand away. _

"_I'm _not_ Julie!" Lucy shouted. "I'm Lucy. I'm Lucy your daughter, and this isn't James and Lily's wedding!"_

"_Julie, don't shout," Sirius said softly. His eyes saddened as he stared at Lucy. _

"_Julie is dead! She's _dead_!"_

_And it was all downhill from there. Castor started crying, so did Leo, and Sirius shouted about how useless Lucy was at keeping her eyes on them. Lucy shouted back, and Ginny had rushed over telling them both to calm down. Lucy pushed Sirius and he stumbled back in his drunken state. His hand raised as though he were going to hit her, and Harry stood from his seat, wand out. Eventually, things escalated and George and Arthur dragged Sirius, fighting, out of the reception. _

_All eyes were on Lucy who was now carrying Castor while Leo held her other hand. At eighteen, Lucy looked out of place with the two young boys holding onto her like she was their life raft. Suddenly, her skin started to burn as she noticed the way that even Augusta Longbottom was staring at her with nothing but pity. She handed Castor to Molly, and told Leo to follow his brother before she stormed out of the reception tent and breathed the cool night are into her lungs. _

_She sat down on the grass and stared up at the stars, wishing she knew what she was going to do. Behind her, she heard footsteps. Expecting it was the groom, Lucy let out a groan and threw herself back on the grass dramatically._

"_I don't want to talk about it, Harry!" She exclaimed. _

"_Er... Not Harry, but that's alright," Neville Longbottom rubbed the back of his neck and Lucy immediately sat bold upright. _

"_Oh, Neville... Hey..." She said. _

"_Just wanted to check you were alright," Neville smiled slightly and put down his outer robe so they could both sit on it on the grass. "But you don't have to say anything you don't want to..."_

"_Thanks," Lucy sighed. She shuffled onto the coat beside him and the pair of them watched the sky. _

"'_Mione told me that Newt Scamander's grandson is here," Neville said. _

"_Trying to woo me into going to work with them, no doubt," Lucy huffed. "How can I leave the twins with him?"_

"_I thought you didn't want to talk about it," Neville smirked. _

"_Everything has to do with it," Lucy said. "If Remus were here, he'd know what to say."_

_Neville watched Lucy's profile and didn't understand her father's confusion between her and her mother. As far as he could tell, ever inch of her was Black. Her straight nose, her cheekbones, and her full lips bore very little resemblance to her Potter cousin._

"_I think you'd be daft if you didn't go," Neville shrugged. "It's a bit like turning down an auror position, or the opportunity to study plants in Algeria."_

"_You think I'm daft?" Lucy frowned and turned to look at him. His softness had slowly faded away as he had grown up, but it could still be found in his green-gold eyes. _

"_If you turn down the man that sent his dashing grandson to come convince you... The man who wrote Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, your _favourite_ book, then yeah," Neville grinned. "You're daft." _

"_You just want me to leave town so _you_ can be the coolest war survivor," Lucy playfully hit him in the arm and they both laughed at her joke. _

"_That's the idea," Neville rubbed where hand had been before he lowered his hand back down to the ground. Their fingers brushed against each other, and slowly their hands found their way to being intertwined. _

"_Who knows, Luce," Neville rubbed his thumb across her hand. "Maybe you'll fall in love with dragons." _

"_Maybe I'll meet my future husband," Lucy threw her head back and let the moon wash over her for a moment. _

"_Maybe you'll meet my future husband-Wife, I meant my future wife," Neville frowned._

_"Are you sure that's what you meant?" Lucy teased._

_"Sod off..."_

* * *

_**June 30th, 2009**_

Harry left Neville and Lucy alone in the kitchen. The silence in the room was thick with stiffened words that neither of them had the courage to say just yet. It had been years, hadn't it? They had lived their separate lives for so long that not even a welcoming home could make them seem alright again. They had been best friends once.

"How've you been?" Lucy asked meekly. Her hands fidgeted around the neck of the empty firewhiskey bottle in her hands. "Ginny told me you're still teaching... Are you... Enjoying that?"

"Yeah," Neville replied. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and tried to keep his eyes away from hers. He didn't feel like having this conversation right now. He didn't feel like telling her all of the things that he imagined he would as he prepared himself for this moment exactly. "And you... Congratulations on your Order of Merlin..."

"Yeah, well, it's only a second class, right?" Lucy tried to joke, but it sounded like a passing dig at herself. It felt like one on her tongue; clumsy and self-deprecating.

"Don't do that," Neville said. "Don't make it seem like what you did wasn't-" He stopped himself, choosing his words carefully. "Like it wasn't for a reason."

"I've missed you," Lucy blurted before she could think. Neville inhaled sharply, as though the words had been a slap to the face. "I don't know why I didn't-"

"Lucy, it's alright," Neville breathed. His hands slowly made their way out of his pockets and held up an invisible shield between them.

"It isn't," Lucy shook her head. "I know I should have stayed, after Rolf and Luna's wedding, I shouldn't have left things like that," Lucy continued. Her hands wrung the bottle's neck.

"No, really," Neville said. "It's... It's fine. You... We... It was a difficult time, and your dad-"

"I'm trying to apologize," Lucy snapped.

"And I'm telling you, you don't need to," Neville insisted. "We've both grown up since then... "

"Right," Lucy nodded. "Of course..." Nothing else was said. Neville excused himself, kissing her lightly on the forehead as he walked off. Lucy's cheeks burned red. No one kissed her on the forehead. Pausing for a moment, she inhaled sharply and then stalked out, only to get caught on the arm by Harry.

"So?" Harry said expectantly. "Did you two talk?"

"Yes," Lucy said curtly. "Thanks for leaving me alone to deal with that..."

"With what?" Ginny wandered over, wrapping her arms around Harry and kissing him on the cheek.

"With... With that!" She turned and saw Hannah fluffing Neville's collar before she planted a kiss on his lips. For the first time, she noticed the glittering diamond on Hannah's left ring finger.

The empty bottle that had been in Lucy's hands smashed on the floor.

"_Repairo,_" Harry muttered as the pieces of glass assembled themselves together again. Lucy stood, open-mouthed, staring as the couple turned to look at her.

"You didn't say you were getting married," Lucy swallowed. She wandered towards them, stepping over the bottle. No one knew what to expect, but what happened certainly hadn't been their idea of Lucy's reaction. She walked over to Neville and Hannah, opened her arms and hugged each of them.

_Married_, Lucy thought. _Another wedding._

* * *

**A/N: Next chapter flashes back to Deathly Hallows! By the way: WHO ELSE WAS FREAKING SCREAMING AT THE RITA SKEETER SHORT STORY? **

**Leave me a review, if the spirit moves you. They make me feel warm and fluffy... Like being wrapped in a towel fresh from the drier in the winter!**

**xo Sophie**


	3. Wait It Out

**A/N: Hey guys, so here's chapter two! It jumps around a bit more than I thought it would, but you know.. There was lots of unanswered loose ends I, personally, needed to work out as an author. Hope you enjoy it, and thank you for your interest! :) Y'all are the best! xo**

* * *

**_July 10th, 1996_**

_The solicitor sat across from the pale young girl with matted black curls. Her eyes were heavy with sleep, tears and upset as a young woman to her right with mousy brown hair held the child's hand. To the girl's left was Harry Potter. His green eyes were pink and swollen. Behind the sofa, a man with greying light-brown hair and sad, amber eyes paced back and forth, while Sirius Black, infamous ex-convict, stood leering from the doorway. Two matching bassinets swayed from side to side to quiet the young babes that lay sleeping within them. The solicitor cleared his throat. They were all so young, so tired, and so heavy in their grief. There was nothing good that he had to say. _

_"This is the last will and testament of Julianne Helena Potter." _

_There was only silence as a single tear slipped down the girl in the centre of the room. Harry Potter's hand immediately squeezed hers. _

_"Black," Sirius croaked from the doorway. "Julianne Helena Black. We were married... Married this time last year..."_

_The solicitor's face faltered for a moment. His mouth hung slightly agape. _

_"Shall I continue?" The solicitor managed to choke out. _

_"Yes," Remus Lupin said, freezing in spot as he turned to face the stout wizard sitting in front of them. The solicitor swallowed, straightened the parchment in front of him and then started._

"Last Will and Testament of  
Julianne Helena Potter

I, Julianne Helena Potter, an adult residing in London, England, born on the 27th of March in the year 1960, declare this to be my last will and testament. I revoke all wills and codicils previously made by me.

Article I

I have one child, Lucy Layla Potter, hereafter referred to as my daughter. I administer her as my Personal Representative to administer this Will, and ask that she be permitted to serve without Wizengamot supervision and without posting bond. If Lucy Layla Potter is unable or unwilling to serve, then I appoint Remus John Lupin as my Personal Representative, and ask that he be permitted to serve without Court supervision and without posting bond.

Article II

I direct my Personal Representative to pay out of my residuary estate all of the expenses of my last illness, administration expenses, legal enforceable creditor claims, all Federal estate taxes, state inheritance taxes, and all other Ministry charges imposed by reason of my death without seeking further reimbursement fro or charging any person for any part of the taxes and charges paid, and if necessary, reasonable funeral expenses, including the cost of any suitable marker for my grave, without the necessity of an order of court approving said expenses..."

_The solicitor faded off as he looked up and saw that Lucy had thrown herself into her older cousin's arms and was shaking uncontrollably with tears. Harry had placed a hand on her head and held her close. His own eyes looked watery. Behind them, Remus had his hands on the back of the sofa to support himself. His pallor was pasty white and the dark circles under his eyes looked particularly solemn as he inhaled a breath. Sirius had a face that could have wilted flowers as the solicitor turned his eyes back down to the parchment and continued after a moment's pause._

_"Article three..._

I devise, bequeth, and give Twenty-Five (25%) Percent of my estate to Remus John Lupin, should he survive me; otherwise the share of Remus John Lupin shall pass instead to my daughter should she survive Remus J. Lupin and myself.

I devise, bequeth, and give Twenty-Five (25%) Percent estate to Harry James Potter, my nephew, should he survive me; otherwise the share of Harry James Potter shall pass to my daughter should she survive Harry J. Potter and myself.

I devise, bequeth, and give Fifty (50%) Percent to Lucy Layla Potter, my daughter, should she survive me; otherwise the share of Lucy Layla Potter shall pass to Harry James Potter should he survive Lucy L. Potter and myself.

Article IV

I hereby give anything not aforementioned to my daughter, Lucy Layla Potter, should she survive me.

I, Julianne Helena Potter, the testator, sign my name to this instrument, the first of July, in the year 1982, at 85 Lupus Street, Pimlico, London, UK. "

_Lucy Layla Potter-Black didn't care about the estate. She didn't care about any bit of real estate, any object, any sum of money huddled up in Gringotts Bank. She didn't care because none of it mattered. Lucy would give it all back if it meant that her mother would walk back through the front door as if the whole thing had been a joke, a terrible, cruel joke._

_"Go away," She whispered to the solicitor. _

_"Lucy-" Remus croaked. Sirius stood up from his lean against the doorframe, his fists balled up, trembling. _

_"No, get out! GO AWAY! It's my house! SHE LEFT IT TO ME! GO AWAY!" _

_Nobody moved. Lucy started screaming. The pictures on the walls began trembling, smashing to the floor as she stood from the sofa shouting at everyone to get out of her house. Her cousin moved to comfort her, and as soon as his hand touched her shoulder she collapsed. _

_As the solicitor gathered his things, leaving the copy of the will on the coffee table as the sounds of muffled sobs and hushed anger followed him out the door._

* * *

**_July 15th, 2009_**

For any other man, Lucy wouldn't have batted an eye if they had staggered down Diagon Alley blazing drunk. It was the way his black curls stuck to the back of his neck in the muggy summer heat, the way he reeked of stale firewhiskey and desperation, but mostly, it was the familiarity of his hulking figure, leaned against the cobblestone. Her legs had started moving, her tongue had started defending, and before Lucy could blink she was insisting to a worried old witch that Sirius Black was, in fact, perfectly fine. _Old habits die hard_.

Now, as she sat in the Leaky Cauldron with a sleeping black dog snoring at her feet, Lucy missed the man who had sat up with her when she'd had her meltdown about impending babies. It all seemed so petty now. She wasn't sure if he would be sober enough to transform back, but the dog version of Sirius had always been better with children. At least, that's what her mother had said once.

Someone knocked on Lucy's door, and she watched the black dog carefully. When he didn't stir, she opened the front.

Neville had his back turned as though he regretted knocking. His entire body looked stiff with discomfort.

"Oh thank Merlin," Lucy breathed as she shut the door behind her. "You'll never guess what-"

Neville turned around to reveal a frown that made her skin crawl. He looked miserable.

"All right?" Lucy watched him. He forced a smile that trembled almost as much as his hands.

"Oh, I'm fine," Neville nodded. "Sorry, I was just... Er... Hannah is working nights at Mungo's and so I was alone... Um... I... I was just..."

"C'mon," Lucy sighed. "I'll make you a cup of tea and you can tell me all about your woes..."

Neville hesitated before he followed her back into the room. He caught sight of the sleeping dog, but didn't ask any questions. Lucy moved around as quietly as she could, while Neville looked around at the scattered parchment that littered the small table in the corner of her room. Her clothes were strewn every which way, and her bed was the only part of her room that was relatively tidy. He sat down on the wooden chair, and exhaled.

There was silence between them for a moment as they watched each other carefully. Lucy had a million things to say just on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't find them. They escaped her. She'd walked away from him once, and now he was sitting in her room while her drunk father slept in his animagus form on the floor. It all felt like the start of some terrible joke with which Harry would try desperately to lighten the mood.

"How's the wedding coming along?" Lucy asked. She turned back to the tea and poured out three mugs. She put milk and sugar into one and placed it in front of the dog, knowing he'd eventually start to lap it up, and then gave the other, with just milk to Neville. Lucy didn't take hers with anything. She hadn't since they'd run out of everything but tea in Romania for a week.

"Hannah says it's coming along nicely... She's dress shopping with Ginny tomorrow-"

"Ginny?" Lucy spluttered. "She's dress shopping with _Ginny_?"

Neither of them had been expecting the betrayal to look quite so evident on her face. Lucy knew she was being petty, but Ginny was her oldest friend and something about the idea of her shopping for wedding dresses with someone who wasn't her made her skin crawl.

"Er, yeah..." Neville shifted in his seat and felt something dig into his waist from his pocket. "Oh! Blimey, I nearly forgot..." He reached in and slid it out. "The letter! Minerva wanted me to give you this."

"Minerva?" Lucy blinked. "McGonagall?" She reached out and felt the heavy parchment in her hand. She looked at the emerald green ink and remembered receiving a very similar letter when she was eleven.

"Well, I assume so, unless the Roman goddess has started running around Hogwarts," Neville rubbed his eyes and smiled. Lucy fumbled with the envelope's seal and wan't certain she wanted to continue on as it hung ominously open. She pulled the handwritten note out and started to read.

_Dear Miss Potter-Black,_

_I'm not sure which last name you're using these days, however... I am pleased to inform you that there is an opening on staff at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._

"Is this a joke?" Lucy looked up and stared at Neville long and hard. "Is she-"

"Lucy, I haven't read your mail," Neville shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

It wasn't. He knew exactly what was on offer in that letter. The last Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had 'unexpectedly' quit.

_I am delighted to invite you to fill the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. _

"No, c'mon," Lucy put the letter down. "This is a bloody joke. You're having me on..."

"What's she say?" Neville asked as he rubbed the back of his neck.

_Term starts September 1st, as you well know. Send me an owl without further hesitation on your decision. _

_I hope your return to England has been as satisfying as receiving an Order of Merlin._

_Best Wishes,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Headmistress of Hogwarts_

"Don't play dumb with me, Longbottom," Lucy swatted him with the parchment. "You know damn well-"

"Ow! Alright, alright," Neville chuckled as he held his hands up to stop her swatting him with the bunched up letter. "She's asking you to take over for Professor MacMillan."

"MacMillan?" Lucy made a face. "_Ernie MacMillan_ was teaching DADA? No _bloody_ wonder, I'm next on the chopping block."

"He wasn't half bad," Neville said defensively. "He's a nice enough bloke now he's grown up a bit."

Lucy laughed and tried to stop herself tearing up at the idea of returning to Hogwarts in September, working the same position Remus had had, and spending the year teaching her brothers and Teddy.

"So," Neville finally turned his attention to the hulking black dog in the middle of the room. "Any particular reason you've decided to get a dog, or-"

"Oh, that's... That's not a dog," Lucy laughed. "No, that's my dad..."

"Right, of course," Neville raised his eyebrows. "That explains everything..."

Lucy sat on the floor beside the sleeping black dog and shrugged.

"Haven't you ever heard how I first met him?"

* * *

**_July 31st, 2009_**

"Fifteen days," Lucy said as she cut her father's hair. Sirius had his eyes closed. He breathed in and out. "You've been sober for fifteen days."

It had been the worst fifteen days of Lucy's life since her mother died, of that much she was absolutely certain. He'd vomited, cried, been unable to bear himself as a human for most of it. Lucy had had to deal with a dog, a big, black, grumpy dog, for fifteen days. The only comfort was that, maybe, just maybe, at the end of it all she might get some vestiges of a family. The taste that Sirius left in her mouth was stronger than any bitter absinthe she'd found, or any of the strange burn remedies Newt had made her try. He was a ball of self-loathing that countered the Remus she'd found in her mother's old letters.

"I'm aware," He growled. Lucy licked her lips and then snipped a lock close to his ear. "Watch where you're chopping. That was awfully close."

"I'm aware," Lucy said wryly. Silence filled the room at the Leaky Cauldron and the sunlight grew stronger and stronger. "How does it feel to be human again?"

"Like you're too old, and the twins are too young, and I'm still bitter and alone," Sirius clenched and unclenched his shaking hands. Lucy was nearly done, except for a bit at the fringe. She moved around and looked him in the eyes, the eyes that she had blinking back at him with her own thick dark lashes.

"Well," Lucy said as she pulled the long locks out of his face and trimmed them back to match the rest of his head. "You know, you do have three wonderful children, but someone went and drank away his _second_ chance, didn't he?"

"Fuck you," Sirius clenched his jaw. Lucy let it wash over her. It didn't phase her anymore. She couldn't remember why it ever had. It didn't sting anymore.

"Are you up to Harry's birthday tonight? Or will you ruin his party like you ruined his wedding?" Lucy asked as she pulled her own long curls out of her face and into a ponytail.

"I could do without your snide remarks, you know," Sirius ran a hand through his freshly cut hair and swallowed.

"And I could've done with a dad after Remus died," Lucy snapped. "But there you have it."

Lucy's tongue regretted the lashing as soon as it had given it out. Sirius' eyes widened. She was wrong. She'd lied to herself. It did still sting. He opened his mouth and closed it a few times, looking like a fish out of water.

"I'm sorry," Lucy pinched her nose and exhaled. "That was-"

"Deserved," Sirius croaked. "So don't you apologize," he reached out and grabbed her hand. "Don't you ever."

The sadness in his eyes was clear and painful to see. It was just as raw as the first few days of being home after the death. The year Lucy had cut off all her hair. The year Sirius had started his downward spiral. The year the war had knocked down the home and the entire base of the only world Lucy had ever known up until then- that was the beginning of the end. The beginning of the haunting emptiness they'd feel forever.

"If Cas and Leo- They..." Lucy wiped at her eyes. "They like to ask about mum, so if they-"

"I'll be fine," Sirius nodded.

"I just-"

"Lucy," Sirius sounded like he was strained already at the idea. "I'll be fine."

The worst part about it was how desperately she wanted to believe him.

* * *

**_April 30th, 1997_**

_"ROMILDA, WILL YOU LEAVE ME ALONE?"_

_All year it had been the same story with her, over and over. She'd wanted a fresh start with Lucy. '_We were friends once,_' Romilda had said to the girl with her cropped curls and saddened eyes. Lucy didn't care for that excuse. She didn't care for much since her mother had died. There had been too much blood shed for her to give a damn about any girl who would call Remus Lupin the nasty names Romilda had two years before._

_"Lucy, c'mon, don't be such a spoilsport…"_

_Lucy's hair was longer now. It fell into her eyes in little curly cues that bothered her to no end, so she'd pinned them back. Unfortunately, as she stormed down the dormitory steps, her curls came loose and got in her eyes. After her mother had died, her hair was about the only thing she could control; so naturally she'd cut it all off. It stuck up a bit in the back when it was a bit shorter than it was now. It still threatened to from time to time. _Bloody Potter genetics_, she thought bitterly as she heard Romilda follow her closely behind._

_"I'm not being a_ fucking_ spoilsport, Vane, I'm just not—"_

_"But Harry is the chosen—"_

_Lucy's wand flew out faster than either girl could blink. _

_"ONE MORE TIME. SAY IT ONE MORE TIME AND I'LL BLAST YOU INTO NEXT THURSDAY."_

_That was all Neville had heard, as he studied his Herbology notes in the common room, from the girls' dormitory staircase before Lucy had stormed down, wand out. She had her pillow floating behind her and a bunch of blankets as well. They landed on the empty sofa with a soft thud._

_"I'm not sure you're allowed to do—" He stopped when he saw the venom in her grey eyes. "You'll get a back ache?"_

_"I'll put up with a back ache better than Romilda Stupid-Lousy-Face Vane." _

_"Oh, c'mon. Luce, I'm sure Harry won't mind if you sleep with me," Neville rolled his eyes and then froze, realizing what he'd said. "In my bed, not with— No, no, I mean—"_

_Lucy raised an eyebrow and her lips struggled to say serious as she asked, "Are you inviting me to sleep with you, Neville?"_

_"No, I— I just—," Neville's cheeks turned deeper and deeper red. "I just—"_

_"You just wanted me to sleep with you, in your bed," Lucy waggled her eyebrows. _

_"With clothes on!" Neville covered his face with his hands. "Forget it, I only meant—"_

_At that moment, Harry and Ron burst into the common room from Quidditch Practice followed by Ginny. Lucy's eyes were watering from laughing so hard. She could barely breathe as her giggles cascaded from her lips. Everyone froze. It had been a long time since they'd seen such unadulterated joy on Lucy's young face. Harry's lips twitched upwards into a smile. _

_"What are you laughing about, Luce?" Harry asked._

_"Neville invited me to… To sl-sleep with h-him!" She wheezed, clutching her sides. _

_"To what?!" Harry spluttered. Ron burst out laughing as he noticed the colour of red Neville's cheeks were quickly turning. Ginny giggled as well._

_"It's not funny," Neville frowned. "I was just trying to cheer her u—"_

_"CHEER ME UP!" Lucy couldn't breathe she was laughing so hard._

_"You know what I meant!" Neville pleaded. He could only make it worse, Neville realized as he tried to amend his earlier statement, "Quit laughing!" _

_He hadn't meant it really. In fact, he started to smile slightly as well. Lucy had been an entirely different creature this year. Grief had transformed her. Regardless of whether or not the joke was at his expense, it did warm him slightly to see her laugh the way she was. _

_Lucy paused, looked at Neville with a cheeky smile on her face and said, "C'mon, Neville... Don't be such a spoilsport." _

* * *

**_July 31st, 2009_**

Harry and Lucy watched Sirius as he struggled, truly struggled, to remain calm and steady around the children. They knew as well as he that every adult had their hand mere inches away from their wands. It was a protective measure. Ginny was a little less than pleased and made it known.

"After everything he's done, you bring him into my house?"

"People change," Lucy had insisted, more for her own sake than her best mate's. Castor and Leo hadn't left their sister's side. All three pairs of eyes watched as Albus and James tried to get him to talk about what their daddy had been like as a boy, what Lucy had been like. He was trying to hold it together at the seams. He didn't know. He couldn't articulate, so he filled their heads with silly stories and tried to distract them.

"If he'd been _around_," Castor grumbled under his breathe. "He'd be able to answer those questions..."

"_That_ wasn't his fault," Lucy said quietly. "C'mon, let's give Molly a hand in the kitchen, yeah?"

"Alright," Leo and Cas sighed. Lucy gave Harry and Ginny a meaningful look, and Harry simply held up his mug of tea. She mouthed _Happy Birthday,_ and he smiled a bit. Luckily for all of them, it wasn't as though this was the worst birthday they'd all shared together.

Molly was fussing in the kitchen with Hannah, while Hannah made another round of drinks for the grown ups.

"Can we help?" The boys said, under-enthused. Molly turned, smiled at the two disheveled thirteen year olds and nodded.

"Of course, dears," Molly said with her usual warmth that Lucy had stopped resenting by the time she was 20. "Hannah, why don't you put our Lucy to work?"

"Oh! Yes," Hannah turned, wiping her hands on a tea cloth. "There's not much to do, but actually I'd love to have a chat with you..."

Lucy's stomach sank.

"I'll take the tray," Lucy said calmly.

"No need," Hannah had already charmed it to head into the dining room. The blonde linked arms with Lucy and pulled her into a quiet part of the hall. "So, Neville told me about the job offer!"

"He did?" Lucy swallowed.

"Why don't you look excited?" Hannah pushed her perfectly sculpted brows together. "It's an excellent opportunity..."

"I..." Lucy inhaled. "I know, and I'd get to be around the boys more often and... It would be amazing. Truly."

Hannah studied Lucy's grey eyes. Lucy studied Hannah's kind face. The two women watched each other, each trying to figure out how to react, how to respond. They were cut of different cloth. Both loyal, both resilient, but bred differently. Hannah was sweet, while Lucy was harsh- sharp to the taste.

Without questioning why she was being so honest with Hannah, Lucy said, "I'm just not certain being at Hogwarts again is the best idea for me."

"I think you're wrong," Hannah said quickly. She then amended, "Mind you, I'm not a person to judge... I just think you'd be daft not to accept it."

Lucy blinked at Hannah, absorbing the words for a moment. A smile crept across her lips.

"You know," Lucy said. "People have a tendency of telling me that."

"People, or me?" Neville asked from behind Hannah.

"You," Lucy rolled her eyes. "Definitely you."

"Great minds," Hannah grinned. She lifted herself up, lithely, on her toes to kiss Neville on the cheek as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Lucy couldn't think of anything else to say, so she simply smiled and turned on her heel to go see what was making the gaggle of children, all of whom were surrounding an increasingly uncomfortable-looking Sirius, giggle.

"Does she ever end conversations?" Hannah turned to look at one of the Black twins who had peaked his head around the corner.

"Not likely," the twins replied.

* * *

**_March 27th, 1998_**

_In a different life, Lucy would have been celebrating her mother's 38th birthday in a nice warm farmhouse with the twins. She and Harry would be stuffed full of chocolate cake, with Remus, Tonks and Sirius all laughing heartily at a joke about getting older that Jules would have made bitterly. They would have been happy. _

_Instead, her body ached on the cold floor of the Malfoy cellar, still sore from a torture session with Bellatrix. Lucy had never hated anyone the way she hated Bellatrix Lestrange. Luna's cool hands felt nice as they attempted to untangle Lucy's curls with her lithe fingers. While Ollivander was no company, it was almost comforting to have Luna around._

_Almost. If only she had listened when Remus told her not to go to Hogsmeade to visit the DA. If only she had stayed at the Burrow one more day, before riding off on the stupid, now-broken, motorcycle. Lucy was angry at herself more than at anyone else. Her recklessness had killed before. Her self-destruction only ever hurt her._

_The voices, ever continuous, grew louder from upstairs, and carried down. _

_"We'd better be certain, Lucius... Completely sure that it is Potter, before we summon the Dark Lord..." _

_Lucy sat up quickly, dragging Luna's hand with her hair as she let out a curse of frustration and then stopped her breathing to hear what was being said. _

_"Potter?" Luna whispered. "Did they say-"_

_"Harry..." Lucy breathed as Luna extracted her fingers from Lucy's matted curls and the two girls found each other's hands in the darkness to squeeze. "No..."_

_"Grab the girl," Lucius Malfoy's voice said sternly. "She'll know if it's her cousin... And if not, we can finally dispose of her..."_

Don't say anything,_ Lucy pleaded silently with whomever was upstairs. _Let me die, instead of you... If it is you, just don't say a word, Harry..._ The door burst open and Peter Pettigrew, the coward, the betrayer, wandered in. He lit up his wand and found Lucy, staring at him. She spat in his face and he made a point of grabbing more than just her torn shirt collar as he dragged her upstairs. His long, overgrown nails drew blood from her collarbone. _

_Lucy didn't have much fight in her, but she squinted as the light streamed in and temporarily blinded her. Ron was tied up. Hermione was restrained. Lucy's eyes turned and then fell on a boy with untidy dark hair and a disfigured face. She would have recognized him from a mile away. He was missing his glasses. He was swollen and looked beaten up. But he was her cousin and it took everything in Lucy not to scream and cry with relief. _

_Harry's emerald eyes blinked at her with his puffy eyelids. She understood._

_"Showing off?" Lucy said brusquely. "You know how I love a good show... Eh, cousin?" _

_She smirked at Draco, but her legs threatened to collapse under her as the memory of white hot knives sticking into every inch of her surface bubbled to the forefront of her mind. _

_"Don't speak to him," Narcissa Malfoy sneered. "Is this Potter?"_

_If desperation had a scent, Lucy was certain she'd be wreaking of it. _

_"Well, you lot have been calling me Potter for the last week or so... So if I'm Potter, he can't-" _

_The resounding smack that echoed around the hall made Harry twitch noticeably, but not a single person had their attention on him luckily._

_"Is. It. Potter?" Lucius leaned down and stared Lucy in her cool grey eyes with his hand still clutching her face. _

_Lucy spat in his face. She had feared her life plenty of times during her stay in that cellar, but for some reason having the face of the cause at risk gave her a boldness that simply overcame her mortality._

_Lucius wiped the spit from his nose with two fingers and snarled. Within a breath, Peter had his wand jabbed in her jaw._

_"Your life depends entirely on your use to us, girl," Lucius hissed. "If you've become useless, we'll have to dispose of you..."_

_"I've been useless all week," Lucy didn't sound confident now. Her voice trembled and Harry's fists remained clenched at his sides._

_"What's going on?" Bellatrix Lestrange entered the room to see the prisoners and snatchers all silent while Lucy's neck grew sore from the tip of Peter's wand jabbing into it unceremoniously. "What's happened, Cissy?"_

_Lucy couldn't remember what happened next because the first thing that happened was her father's least favourite cousin, her mother's murderer had swapped places with Pettigrew to do an identity check properly. Her world went white hot for a moment as she screamed, sunk to her knees and writhed on the floor. When she was finally able to catch her breath, her vision started to come into focus and she forced herself to try and pay attention to the feeling of the cool stones beneath her. _

_"GET OFF HER!" Someone was shouting. Everything sounded disjointed as she drew in shaky breath after the next._

_"There's a good girl," A familiar, cruel voice taunted as rough hands lifted her up off the floor. _

_Lucy could barely keep her head upright as she tried to remember anything other than the incredible pain of the cruciatus curse. Her grey eyes met Harry's green ones. They had failed each other. Both of them would die. But first, Bellatrix let them all know that Hermione was to go into questioning. All in all, Lucy thought bitterly, there had been better days._

* * *

**_July 31st, 2009_**

Lucy watched from across the room to where her father sat with Lily Luna's chubby hands pulling on his face. Sirius was smiling, uncomfortably, as the tiny human giggled and slobbered over him. Her head was still too large for her body and it had a tendency of rolling from one side to the other when she tried to look at Sirius from different angles. Her red hair was thin and fuzzy on top of her head. She didn't look anything like Cas and Leo had at the same age. _Not that he'd remember_, Lucy frowned.

"It's nice to see him like this," Arthur Weasley placed his hand on Lucy's shoulder, making her turn. "I think this was exactly the present Harry didn't know he wanted."

Lucy turned to face the weathered man, with his faded, in some parts even white, red hair. She smiled sadly.

"I hope so," She replied. Arthur squeezed her shoulder a little tighter and then let his hand drop.

"So, word is you won't be coming to work for the Ministry of Magic after all..."

Lucy folded her arms and looked up at Arthur with a smirk.

"Minerva beat you to the job offer, I'm afraid," She replied. "But there's hope still. I haven't said yes..."

There was a pause, and Arthur Weasley's jovial smile fell from his face. He looked at the young woman before him sternly.

"Lucy, you've got to be joking," Arthur said. "Do you know how infrequently Hogwarts positions come up now? It's a chance of a-"

"Lifetime," Lucy said flatly. "I know."

Arthur tried to gage her for a moment. He watched her eyes carefully as they betrayed every inch of insecurity she had. Lucy had the same lost look that Charlie'd gotten when he'd first come home from dragon wrangling. It was the look that had forced him to leave again.

"Why did you come home?" Arthur asked quietly.

"Because I'd deluded myself into thinking I'd still have one here after the war."

The pair of them looked back towards Sirius and Lily. Lily was squealing with laughter as Sirius rubbed his stubble against her soft cheeks. Her red hair and pale skin was such a contrast to everything that was dark about Sirius. Lucy's heart ached.

"Oh, isn't that sweet?" Hannah said as she wandered up beside them, with Neville's arm draped around her shoulder. "Must bring back memories for you."

Arthur wrapped his arm protectively around Lucy's shoulders as he saw her stiffen and the betrayal etch itself across her face. Neville froze in his spot and looked at Hannah nervously.

"Babe-" Neville started.

"Oh, I'm sure it does," Arthur said politely. Neville turned to face Arthur Weasley who smiled warmly. "Of Remus... Remember how Remus used to hold you like that?"

"Yeah," Lucy forced herself to smile. "He was great. Speaking of which... Where's Teddy? I've got something to show him..."

"Great plan," Arthur said cheerily. Neville, Hannah and Arthur watched as she left. Instead of walking tall, they noticed her hunched shoulders and trembling hands.

* * *

**_May 2nd, 1998_**

_The strangest part about war was the things it made you do, Lucy thought as she pressed herself against the cold stone rubble that had once been part of some wall or another. It had been a home; a relatively safe haven. Now it was covered in blood, sweat, and killing curses. _

_She'd decided, like Colin Creevey, that the best option was to fight along side those witches and wizards who were of age. Beggars, after all, could not be choosers. They'd separated somewhere along the lines, and Lucy had found herself feeling more insecure in her choice the less Order members she was able to find. All she wanted was to find Ginny, or Luna, or Neville, or anyone really. _

_Lucy took a deep breath, peaked out from behind the rubble, adjusted her grip on her wand and started to sprint through the castle once more towards the Great Hall. She wasn't sure why she was going exactly, only that she wasn't going to hide from death eaters. She'd face them head on. Looking back older her shoulder, sprinting faster than she'd ever run in her life, Lucy ran directly into Remus, whose grip on her shoulders only got tighter as he took in the sight of her. _

_"You're supposed to have been evacuated!" He shouted at her, not out of anger, but out of fright. Lucy had a scrape on her cheek from some stray bit of rubble that had hit her in the course of the past hour. "Lucy! What have you done?"_

_"I'm sorry," Lucy said too quickly. Her godfather pulled her into his arms and kissed Lucy's forehead. "I'm sorry," she said again. She knew it was no use. She'd done something stupid. Voices were calling at them from behind, but she wanted to stay in this moment for just a bit longer. At least, for now, this could be home._

_"Be safe, remember deflecting spells, expelliarmus, the lot," Remus whispered. "And get to the Great Hall- We haven't time for-"_

_Remus fell limp, silent, and slumped down to his knees. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and whatever words were left on his tongue disappeared with his final breath. Lucy's scream echoed around the cavernous hall. Death Eaters were overpowering them, and she watched, horrified as Tonks, too, fell to the ground. _

_"NO!" Lucy could feel arms around her as they dragged her away. "REMUS! REMUS!" _

_"Expelliarmus!_" _George Weasley tossed another curse over his shoulder as he dragged the screaming Lucy away from where the two bodies had fallen. _

_"REMUS!" Lucy shrieked as she struggled against the Weasley twin who pulled her into the Great Hall. _

_She didn't want to fight anymore, and yet all she wanted to do was tear out the throats of whoever killed what little was left of her family. Lucy fought against George as he dragged her inside with whatever strength was left in him, and then the world froze as a flash of green took another life and Lucy fell silent. George stopped holding her. The world froze. _

_"Fred?" _

_Tears that had blurred her vision since the bodies had fallen in the hallway began to slip down each of Lucy's cheeks as she saw George Weasley break in the same way her mother must have more than a decade and a half ago. _

_Salt water mixed with the open wound on her cheek, but the stinging from that didn't ease the ache she felt as she watched George sink to his knees and openly wail over his brother's body. Lucy had never felt more useless in all of her life. She'd never felt angrier either. _

* * *

**_July 31st, 2009_**

"You didn't tell me that McGonagall offered you a job," Harry whispered to Lucy as she helped him carry up a sleeping James and Albus up to their rooms.

"It was your birthday," Lucy replied. "I figured surprising you with a sober Sirius Black was as shocking as things needed to be..."

Harry chuckled and adjusted James on his hip. The sleeping boy's head rolled over on his dad's shoulder, nuzzling into Harry's neck. Lucy's arms were getting tired from the dead weight of Albus, but she didn't let on.

"Goose, c'mon, this is huge," Harry smiled, as he used the pet name for an age past, "Are you going to take it?"

Lucy remained silent until they reached the top of the stairs. Harry watched her carefully as his younger cousin darted in front of him. The scars on her shoulder peaked out from under her largest tattoo. The leaves swayed and shuddered beneath the stray black curls that had fallen from her ponytail. He knew that she wasn't going to answer any question without some pressure.

They made their way to the respective bedrooms belonging to James and Albus. Harry recognized the sadness in Lucy's eyes as she watched Harry tuck both boys in. It was like reading old news articles about the Battle of Hogwarts. It was like seeing the casualties of the Second Wizarding War etched across the sky. A thousand lonely nights were carved deep into the storm grey that watched Harry pull quilts over little sleeping boys.

"So about this job," Harry asked once they'd finally left the last bedroom door open a crack. Ginny was asleep on the sofa with Lily across her chest. "Are you going to-"

"I don't know, Harry," Lucy frowned. "I don't know the last thing about Defense Against-"

"Oh, come off it," Harry interrupted her. "You got an O on your OWL and your NEWT, so don't pull that."

Another deafening silence followed, so Harry accioed the rest of the tea from the closing of the birthday party. The silence felt like the moments before Voldemort announced Harry's death, and Lucy wasn't sure why.

"Alright?" Harry asked as he poured her a mug of tea. Lucy looked over to where her father was passed out on the couch with baby Lily on his chest.

"D'you think he could've been a decent dad? If... If my mum hadn't..." Lucy furrowed her brows together.

"i think a lot of things about what would've happened if Aunt Jules had survived," Harry reached out and squeezed his cousin's hand. "But I think she's been gone a long time, Luce. And that still doesn't answer whether or not you're going to take this job."

"You don't think Minerva'll send her grandson to convince me to go, do you?" Lucy teased. Harry grinned at her and shook his head.

"Nah," He said. "That's why she's got Neville in London."

"Sod _off_."

* * *

**A/N: I hope that wasn't too bad... Um, anyway! Leave me a review and let me know what you think. :) Always appreciated. LOTS AND LOTS OF LOVE, YOU GUYS!**

**xo, Sophie**


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